NCBG North Carolina Botanical Garden

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. - J.R.R. Tolkien

Scientific Name: or show all plants or perform combination search
Plant Family:

Acalypha virginica

Acalypha virginica L.

virginia copperleaf, virginia threeseed mercury

Acalypha virginica (Virginia Copperleaf)
image by Fleming, Gary P.
NCBG PLANT INDEX
ID_PLANT: ACVI
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acalypha virginica
GENUS: Acalypha
FAMILY: EUPHOR - Euphorbiaceae (Spurge Family)
NCBG DESCRIPTIVES
INTRO: Erect annual of dry oak-hickory forests, woodlands, barrens, outcrops, clearings, riverside prairies and weedy, disturbed habitats.
STEMS: Stems occasionally branched, light to medium green and densely hairy.
LEAVES: Leaves alternate, long-petiolate, elliptic to lance-shaped, to 3 in. long, with round-toothed margins, sparsely hairy; leaves often crowded toward top of plant.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in axillary clusters, each resting on a leaf-like bract that is loosely folded around a short spike of male flowers and 1-3 female flowers; male flowers 1/8 in. wide, consisting of a 4-lobed calyx, no petals, and several stamens; female flowers 1/4 in. wide, consisting of insignificant sepals, no petals, and a 3-valved, round ovary with short divided styles.
FRUITS: Fruit a tiny, hairy, 3-lobed capsule.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 6–24 in.
DURATION: Annual
HABIT: Herb
LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:
FLORAL
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Late Jun-Nov
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
x x x x x x

BLOOM COLOR: Greenish-yellow
White Red Pink Orange Yellow Green Blue Lavender Purple Violet Brown Not Applicable
x x

FRUITING PERIOD:
DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Disturbed, Outcrops and glades, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE:
HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE:
LIGHT EXPOSURE:
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
USDA PLANTS DATABASE
USDA Symbol: ACVI
USDA Common Name: Virginia Threeseed Mercury
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WV)
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:AGCPAKAWCBEMPGPHIMWNCNEWMVE
Status: FACU FACU FACU FACU FACU

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast
WEAKLEY FLORA
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Acalypha virginica
COMMON NAME: Virginia Copperleaf
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, FNA, G, GW, Il, K, Pa, RAB, S, Va, W, Z; = A. virginica Linnaeus var. virginica - Y]
PHENOLOGY: Late Jun-Nov.
HABITAT: Woodlands and disturbed ground.
COMMENTS: ME west to IN, IL, MO, and KS, south to c. GA and TX.
RANGE MAP: Acalypha virginica.png

Key to Map Symbols.
ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Euphorbiaceae A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Spurge Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 313-322 genera and 8100-9000 species, trees, shrubs, vines, and herbs, nearly cosmopolitan in distribution, as defined broadly. Molecular systematics suggests that various units traditionally included in the Euphorbiaceae should be segregated (Soltis et al. 2000; Chase et al. 2002). In our flora, this includes Phyllanthus, Phyllanthopsis, and Glochidion (in Phyllanthaceae).
REFERENCE: Webster (1967), Webster (1994); Govaerts, Frodin, & Radcliffe-Smith (2000); Webster in Kubitzki (2014). [also see PHYLLANTHACEAE]
ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Acalypha Linnaeus 1753 (Copperleaf, Three-seeded Mercury)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 430-462 species, shrubs, herbs, and trees, of primarily tropical and subtropical regions (rarely warm temperate).
REFERENCE: Levin in FNA (in prep.); Levin (1999b)=Z; Levin (1999a); Govaerts, Frodin, & Radcliffe-Smith (2000)=Y; Webster in Kubitzki (2014). Key based in part on Levin in FNA.
HERBARIUM RESOURCES
SERNEC: Find Acalypha virginica in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Acalypha virginica in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
WEB RESOURCES
USDA: Find Acalypha virginica in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Acalypha virginica in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Acalypha virginica in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Acalypha virginica
NCBG RECORD
ID IMAGE1: 33682
ID IMAGE2: 0
ID IMAGE3: 0
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-02-05

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Image ID: 33808

Image ID: 10505

Image ID: 33807
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